Turbine is taking full control of Lotro in Europe beginning June 1, 2011.

Official news:

NEEDHAM, MA – APRIL 26, 2011 -- Turbine announced today that it will be expanding its global operations and will assume full control of The Lord of the Rings Online™ (LOTRO) in Europe beginning June 1, 2011. As part of this transition, Codemasters Online will continue to operate the European LOTRO service until June 1st when the existing European players will begin the migration to Turbine’s global service. For more information on the transition, please visit http://www.lotro.com/news/latestnews/1157.

“We are working very closely with our partner Codemasters Online to facilitate a smooth transition to our new global service. We will be providing free account transfers to our new global service and players will be notified when the transfer utility is available,” said Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “We thank Codemasters for the outstanding job they have done publishing and operating LOTRO and we look forward to continuing to deliver one of the world’s best online entertainment experiences to the gamers of Europe.”

“After 4 years of successful publishing and operations we are proud to be handing over a vibrant and healthy service to Turbine,” said David Solari, Vice President and General Manager of Codemasters Online. ”I’d like to thank our many customers over the years for their commitment and look forward to bringing more service-based entertainment to them in the future.”

Turbine Global Service FAQ

1. What’s happening?

Turbine is taking over full operations of The Lord of the Rings Online™ throughout Europe starting June 1, 2011. We’re merging the US and EU services into one mega-service we’re calling the LOTRO Global Service.

2. Will there be any downtime during the transition?

Yes. We do expect there to be a limited service interruption during the changeover. Additional details, including specific information about downtime or service interruptions will be addressed as we get closer to the official take over date.

3. I play on the EU service today. Do I need to do anything?

Yes. All current players of the LOTRO service operated by Codemasters will need to migrate their account to the new global service. This simple one-time process will allow current players to easily move game access and characters to the global service.

4. Should I create a Turbine Account now?

No. Please wait for the official migration process to start. If you create an account on the Turbine service prior to the launch of the global service you will not be able to merge that account and your Codemasters account.

5. I’m an EU player who already has both Turbine and Codemasters accounts. Is it possible to merge them after the migration?

No. Your accounts will remain separate.

6. I play on Turbine’s service today and do not have any accounts on the Codemasters service. Do I need to do anything? Will anything be different for me?

Players on the current North American service do not need to take any action. In general, your play experience should remain the same.

7. What will happen to my characters and items?

After you have completed the account migration process, all of your characters and items will be available to you. You need only log in to the game and they’ll be there waiting for you, right where you left them (even the server names are staying the same).

8. What about my billing information? Will you migrate that too?

No. we will not automatically access or transfer your private billing information as part of this process. During the migration you will be asked to provide your billing information to us.

9. Are there any differences in the VIP programs between Turbine and Codemasters?

The benefits remain the same. Players may also purchase discounted multi-month subscription packages and we are also offering special promotions for some plans during the migration period – please be sure to check the migration site for details.

10. I have a lifetime account with Codemasters. Will Turbine honor it?

All existing Codemasters Lifetime accounts will be converted to Turbine Lifetime accounts.

11. Will I lose my existing Points or will they be exchanged for Turbine points?

Any points on your account at the time of migration will transfer over to the Turbine service.

12. I am a VIP, will my subscription transfer?

Any VIP time you have remaining after migration will be honored. After that period you will lose VIP status unless you update your billing information and select a subscription plan.

13. Will the EU servers be merged into the US servers?

No. All existing servers will become part of the Turbine service.

14. Will Turbine continue to support language specific servers?

Yes. Servers currently designated as FR or DE speaking servers will remain as they are.

15. Will Turbine support European payment options?

Yes. We are expanding our current billing system to accept many new payment methods.

16. Will boxed products or Game Time Cards (GTC) published by Codemasters continue to work after the migration?

No. Due to technical incompatibilities between the systems Turbine will not be able to honor any Codemasters GTC or Codemasters retail product keys.

17. What Languages will be available in the global game client?

The Lord of the Rings Online™ is available in English, French (Français), and German (Deutsch). The game will default to your currently selected language. If you wish to play in a different language, simply select your preferred language from the launcher. Note: If you are using a DE or FR version of Windows then your game may automatically select DE or FR to match your OS.

18. Will EU players be able to use the my.lotro.com site and features such as the lottery after the change?

Yes! Once the transfer is complete and your characters are part of the Turbine service, the my.lotro.com site will start collecting data about your characters and adding them to the site. You will then be able to use all of the my.lotro.com features including blogs, character panels, and lotteries. Please note that your character history will start from the time you join the Turbine service.

19. I'm active on the Codemasters forums, will my posts be copied over to the US forums?

No posts, accounts, or other information will be migrated from the LOTRO EU forums. We encourage players to move their guides, tips, tricks, etc over to the Official Lorebook, and the new global community after June 1, so all players may benefit.

20. What will happen to any auctions/bids I have in progress at the time of the transition?

We encourage all European players to schedule their auctions to expire prior to June 1, 2011. Due to the nature of the transition we cannot guarantee these items will be available after the transfer.